Posted: Feb 24, 2006 10:27 am EST
(MountEverest.net) So here you are, the future Everest climber. Fighting a feverish battle to get your gear together and spending sleepless nights fretting over countless details, you are both anticipating and fearing the near future. How do you get up (and down) that mountain; in one piece, body and mind? Why not check with someone who has - 4 times already! Luis Benitez, usually guiding for Adventure Consultants, offers the following tips:

The Top Ten Guide's Top Ten Tips for climbing Mount Everest

1. Eat. Lots. Most people’s calorie intake goes down over the course of the expedition, and come summit time, if you haven’t been eating, you will be at your weakest. Calories count! Ways to keep pounds on range from protein powders, to pre cooked bacon or hams.

2. Motivation. How to get it, how to keep it. Lots of visualization. See yourself heading over the Hillary Step, train with a photo of the summit in front of the treadmill. How to keep it? 2 months is a long time to be stuck with the same group of people eating the same food. I try to bring along my favorite lotions (yeah, you heard me, lotion. Its really dry air!) Some great books I have been meaning to read, lots of photos from back home, a recording of loved ones voices, DVD’s, and oh yeah, a satellite phone to be able to call home once and a while. Realize that yes, the world goes on without you, but you need to be present, focused, and ready.

3. Know your gear. You heard me, yeah you, the one that just went to the equipment store before your trip and still have the tags on everything. Everest is not the place to find out your shoes are too tight, or your pants too big, or your down jacket not warm enough. Go out and play in it. Intentionally go for a walk during a storm, make a friend at a restaurant with a walk in freezer and go hang out in there during your lunch break from work, and above all, FOLLOW WHAT THE GEAR LIST YOU GET SAYS.

4. Ducks in a row. A large part of the stress of an expedition is leaving town for 2 months. Make sure you start way ahead of time on insurance, pre paying your bills, perhaps a will, and who is gonna water the plants, feed the goldfish, and so on. Don’t leave home without telling the ones you love that you love them.

5. Don’t cut corners. Most of the folks that go to Everest these days go with commercial outfitters. They range in services and prices. Everything from cooking your own food even at basecamp and providing your own tents, (somewhat grim for 2 months), to heated dining tents, movies, and enough Sherpa support to carry you and all your stuff to the top. Somewhere in the middle of that spectrum lies your answer, but above all research who you are going with. Ask for at least 3 references, and make at least one of those a prior client that didn’t necessarily like the company either, as its good to hear from both sides.

6. Train like your life depends on it. (Because it does). In this you need to become a monster fanatic, a lunatic even. Gone are the days of excuses, and of half assed workouts. 30 minutes on the flat treadmill every other day does not even come close to what you need to be doing. Make your life a workout. Take the stairs, everywhere. Walk if you can, if you cant, ride a bike. Carry your pack like it was your child, everywhere. If you do have a child, carry them IN the pack. Hopefully you are getting the picture. Push, hard. Get out and push your VO2 max up by doing sprints once a week, go to failure. Then go out and do it again next week.

7. Pay attention to details. This ranges from taking care of blisters before they become blisters, to putting on sunscreen before you need it, to having your summit day plan well engrained in your head (what goes in which pocket and why). Watch your crampons sharpness, make sure that cough does not develop into a cold. Proactive instead of Reactive.

8. Pacing and Patience. You can’t rush a 2-month trip. It’s impossible. These past few years the summit days have been coming later and later in May, and people have been getting more and more crazy because of it. Slow down, breathe. Enjoy where you are and what you have done. At the end of the trip are when you are the most cranky, skinny, weak, and wanting with all your heart to go home. Home wont go away if it takes one more week, so dig in for the long haul. This is when you need to be at your most Zen like.

9. Communication and Compassion. Be able to be open, honest, and available. I have personally seen multi million dollar expeditions fail due to poor communication. Be honest about what you are thinking and why you are thinking it, at all times. Compassion is easy when you are patting someone on the back that is having a weak or bad day and you are feeling strong. What do you tell yourself when YOU have that bad day? Be able to be compassionate with yourself.

10. Above all else, be willing to turn around. A lot of people define success with a summit, and a failure as a lack of one. This could not be further from the truth. Does an expedition succeed if members reach the top yet others from the same team die along the way? Most groups on Everest these days are just that, groups. Individuals dedicated to a personal goal. Teams, on the other hand come together as one. The culmination of all of the above lessons comes down to this. What is more important; the journey, or the destination? Personal question with a very personal answer.

By the way, don’t forget to have fun!

Luis

Luis Benitez was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1972; his mother Italian/American; his father, an immigrant from Ecuador, Luis has been a busy guide. He has summited Everest 4 times, Aconcagua 10 times, and stood on other "Seven Summit" peaks 14 times. He's been to Elbrus (5642m) in the old USSR, Ama Dablam, Antarctica (Mt Vinson with Annabelle Bond), and Aconcagua.

In spring, 2005, he attempted an Everest traverse along with a client. In fall, he successfully guided a team on Ama Dablam. Currently, he is guiding another team in Antarctica.

On each of his expeditions, Luis has been dispatching pics and reports over Contact 3.0. Currently single, Luis lives in Boulder, Colorado.

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